A Car Wrap is a Great Way to Promote Your Business
A Car Wrap on your commercial vehicle is a great way to promote your business, but some laws need to be followed for the wrap to be legal. Mainly, you do not want to reduce the driver’s visibility. In New York, you must ensure that your windows pass the inspection laws that took effect in January 2017. For a car to pass an inspection, a windshield and front side windows must allow at least 70% of light to pass through. The rear side windows must also allow for 70% of light to pass through for passenger vehicles. The same rule applies to the rear window unless the car is equipped with driver and passenger side mirrors.
For a Multi-purpose vehicle, or MPV, or SUVs, the rear side windows can be tinted to any darkness. The same rules regarding side mirrors apply to the back windows.
We Ensure Your Vehicle Wrap is Legal
While you may add tints to your windows as long as they are within the legal guidelines, when you wrap your car for advertising, you mustn’t use any graphics on any windows that require 70% of light to pass through. The New York State laws, which are identical to federal regulations, are in place for the safety of the driver and passengers, and they allow law enforcement to see and make eye contact with drivers.
Law enforcement must be able to see through the window in case a driver is driving erratically to determine if a driver is in distress, such as having a heart attack at the wheel or if the driver is in any way impaired.
There have been several occasions where we have been contacted by people who had their commercial vehicles wrapped only to find that the wrap was illegal and they needed the wrap to be removed immediately. We will never wrap a vehicle in a manner that is not legal. However, that doesn’t mean that your wrapped vehicle is permitted everywhere you may go.
If Your Travel, Make Sure Your Wrapped Vehicle is Legal
While you can wrap your vehicle in New York, including the five boroughs, and on Long Island, if you plan to drive your car out of state, you should be aware that some places have local laws prohibiting moving billboards including advertising-wrapped vehicles.
If you are considering wrapping your vehicle, you also need to consider where you live. For example, if you live in a coop or within a homeowner’s association, there may be rules prohibiting parking vehicles that have advertising on them. Therefore, if you live in such an area, you may want to ensure you can park your car in your personal garage, or you must make alternative plans not to cause an issue where you live.
If you have any questions about vehicle wraps or you want to have your car wrapped, give us a call at (718) 528-0530 or check out our vehicle wrap page.